In the 1970's when the first
American satellite photos were taken of this vessel as it sat inland, it
was believed to be a normal Jumbo jet sized aircraft under construction...but
why was it sitting on a jetty next to water?

Below is a 2006
satellite image of the Ekranoplan, this is similar to the image that the
military saw with their high tech spy satellite system back in the
1970's

When the vessel was later photographed sitting in water the questions
started to fly
" What is it ? " and
" Why is a huge jumbo jet sized plane sitting in water? "

Of course what the Americans had unknowingly photographed was
The
Caspian Sea Monster, a 540 ton Ekranoplan. A plane that could skim
across the surface of the sea at tremendous speed as seen in the actual
Russian photo below..taken during sea trails.

The 540 ton
Ekranoplan or Caspian
Sea Monster as it was called, can travel over water in excess of
290 knots! This is a phenomenal speed for what is basically a
sea going vessel.

Ekranoplan is a Russian word, it means 'screen
craft' or 'skimmer'. It is not a plane nor is it a ship, its more like a mixture
of both. The Ekranoplan
travels along on a dynamic cushion of air that is generated by
its forward movement, and with eight powerful turbofan jet engines it can reach
a high rate of knots.

The computer generated image below gives
an idea of what the Ekranoplan looks like when it picks up speed. The
image is not a concept, it is a rendition of Russian sea trials that
actually took place in the 1970's. The idea of an aircraft and a
ship all rolled into one is quite novel to say the least and its one that
the Russians pursued.

CGI Image by Bruce448

The Ekranoplan has similar characteristics of the common hovercraft, in
that it flies just above the surface of the water as it moves. However, it will
not hover whilst stationary but just sit and float in the water like
a boat. Its a revolutionary way to travel over the oceans at high speed
and the Russians thought of it first.

Below we can see an Ekranoplan as it
rests in the harbor next to a Russian submarine at dock. Of course
these two vessels could rendezvous right out at sea, one refuelling or
rearming the other. Then whoosh...the Ekranoplan would be
off and the submarine would dive, leaving no trace of their encounter.

These Ekranoplans are big and they
are fast, they were kept
secret from the west until the fall of communism in the early 1990's, when
information about them was slowly revealed.

It can quite easily be
envisaged a hundred of such craft zooming across the ocean, relatively
undetected, flying underneath radar to invade a country.

Below is an Ekranoplan during sea
trails, as it fires an ICBM - Inter Continental Ballistic Missile - at
training targets a few miles away. The Ekranoplan is still
travelling at high speed when it fires its missiles of course and daylight
can be seen under its fuselage.

By the time the target country realized what was going on, it
would have been too late. The front of the fuselage would have
opened to allow soldiers, tanks, trucks, jeeps, and armored cars to
deploy and invade.

Of course, the Ekranoplan itself was also armed with
an array of powerful missiles that could be launched by the pilot as
seen in the image above.

Below is another CGI of what the Ekranoplan would look
like as it flies along just off the surface of the sea. The ships
in the background adding some dimension to the image.

CGI Image by Bruce448

Below is an image of an armored car alighting from the
cargo hold of an Ekranoplan. The front of the Ekranoplan opens on hydraulic hinges
and the vehicles drive out in a matter of seconds.

Not forgetting
that the Ekranoplan of course would have flown quite a way inland to
allow the tanks to drive out.

You have to imagine several hundred of
these craft, all flying at over 290 knots, all under radar in a mass
invasion. We could then fully realise the element of surprise that
they would have had.

Full of tanks, trucks, men and equipment, it
would have presented quite a shock invasion force.

CGI image by Paul McDonell

Never underestimate the Russians, they are
practical, innovative, resourceful and militaristically astute. This
relatively simple craft that just uses a bit of leverage from the air around its
short wings is something that the western powers had not fully researched, if at
all.

You have to admit, its one hell of ship, fast, manoeuvrable, and
heavily armed but maybe not so well protected. Unlike a warship that has
armor plating, the Ekranoplan would be susceptible to enemy firepower, a couple
of rocket or bazooka hits could seriously damage or render an Ekranoplan inoperable.

Below is an actual sea trail photo of
the Ekranoplan as it rests in the water, it could stop like this to be
refuelled or re-armed just as if it was a normal ship. The
versatility of the Ekranoplan should not be underestimated or overlooked
by western military forces as it has high potential.

Despite any short comings though, a very
ambitious programme was launched in 1960 after the Ekranoplan successfully
passed all flight tests. The KM or Caspian Sea Monster, a 540 ton
machine was built and it was many years in advance of western technology and
ideology.

Below is an image of the cockpit inside
the Ekranoplan, it resembles the normal interior of any everyday jet
plane...which is what it basically is of course...except that this thing
flies only a few meters above sea level.

If a guy can fly a normal plane then he
can fly this, so there is not special training requirement.

The reason why such a big craft was
built was to test the fundamentals of this type of design, the tests
worked and in 1967 a speed of 297 knots and a
height of 36 feet was achieved, even though the maximum allowance was initially only
12 feet.

Eight of these KMs were built with different
specifications. Below a huge KM Ekranoplan floats static in the water,
waiting to be refuelled.

As the Ekranoplan picks up speed, the air is
compressed under its short stabilizing wings until enough pressure produces lift
and this supports the craft.

This is known as a " Wing-In-Ground " effect and these
type of craft are referred to as WIG's, or WIG specification craft. With no
water to hull friction, these vehicles can travel at tremendous speeds.

You have to imagine a craft the size of a Boeing 747
Jumbo Jet when regarding these Ekranoplan's, but they are bigger, have more
power and travel just a few feet over the waters surface.

Infinitely
faster than any sea going vessel ever devised the Ekranoplan would be a marvel
to behold. The front view of the Ekranoplan is quite impressive, it looks
sleek, aerodynamic and quite formidable as it quietly rests in the sea.

Unlike an airplane, the Ekranoplan can just stop and get
refuelled or rearmed.
It looks like the crew are having a
party on the wings! This also helps to give some representation
of its size and also how wide the wings are.

The turbo jet engines can be better appreciated for their size when a
person is standing in close proximity to them. The red discs in
the end of the turbo jets engines are there to protect them from any
foreign bodies entering whilst they are not being used.

Below are two YouTube videos of the Ekranoplan and some great
footage of it in flight. These videos were once ultra top secret
Russian material but are now available for all to view.

Below is another video, as these
YouTube videos have a habit of getting
deleted, I don't know why as this is no longer " The BIG Secret "

The terrific speed that these craft can
reach is partially due to the fact that there is no friction between the
hull of the craft and the water. This of course is a factor that keeps
normal ships at such a comparatively slow speed, as they must push
themselves through the water and not over it.

SEA OR LAND

All Ekranoplan's are amphibious and
will easily fly over land just as well as the sea, and at high speed,
just as long as the surface is relatively flat. Ekranoplan's
usually begin and end their journeys in the sea for the greatest
convenience, but it doesn't really matter.

Below is shown a new experimental Ekranoplan,
the twin turbofan Beriev A-40 Albatross, as it exits the sea and
ascends up a jetty onto dry land. It can then of course cruise over land
like a hovercraft and can return to the sea with impunity.

This new
version also has an undercarriage and the gear is lowered to enable low
speed taxiing over firm land. The front gear is just visible behind the
wake.

Indeed the Ekranoplan is quite a versatile craft
with strong military capabilities. Basically its a huge jet aircraft
that swims like a ship and flies like a hovercraft...quite ingenious when
you think about it!

WING IN
GROUND EFFECT

The Wing-In-Ground
effect program was started in
earnest in 1960 at the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau in Russia, under maximum
secrecy. At that time, the bureau was actually heavily engaged in the design and
manufacture of hydrofoil ships.

Below, the Ekranoplan Beriev A-40
Albatross looks like it is floundering or has crashed into the sea, both
accounts would of course be wrong. The craft is actually powering up
after sitting idle on the sea and will soon be zooming along at high
speed.

The Russians now designate this new model as an amphibious aircraft
as it can fly at higher altitude than the standard Ekranoplan...30,000
feet higher!

Yes I did say 30,000 feet higher and
below is the proof, no it isn't Photoshopped...this new Ekranoplan can fly
like a conventional aircraft.

We must never underestimate Russian
engineering, they are not behind in technology but very much advanced with
it.

As stated, the plane is amphibious,
indeed it does not need a runway, it can land in the sea and then act like
a ship...as it uses WIG, wing in ground effect technology.
Technology that the west is still far behind on in theory and in practise!

The first WIG was a three ton ship called the
SM-1, it was hard to manoeuvre, unstable and needed an extremely high take off
speed. However the first experimental Ekranoplan, seen
below, could reach speeds in excess of 290 knots, stating that
speed was not really an issue. The speed was more than enough to achieve the WIG
effect, so they stayed with the basic design.

Rostislav Alexiev was the chief designer of these
vehicles at the CHDB and he realized that a large rear T-wing was the
answer to the vessels stability problems.

Once a T-wing was installed on
a Ekranoplan in 1962, the stability problem had been resolved and the
craft could reach very high speeds under great control.

The last Ekranoplan from the former Soviet
Union was the four hundred ton LUN. It was built in 1987 with 100% military application
in mind as a missile launcher and troop carrying ship.

It was equipped with six
large missiles on top of the fuselage, and could carry main battle tanks and
trucks in its large cargo hold. It must also must be reiterated here that it would not have
been detected by radar, as it would have travelled under the radars waves.
As I understand now though, modern radar now has the ability to scan vessels on the surface
of the sea.

Reaching speeds of up to 300 knots
is still unprecedented for what is basically a water based vessel. No enemy ships
could ever have had the slightest chance of intercepting this vehicle by any means
due to this high speed of travel. They could perhaps only fire rockets at it.

Eight NK87 turbofan engines give
ample power as the Ekranoplan seen below accelerates across the ocean at
terrific speed, notice also that it is bristling with long range
ballistic missiles. The large dome on the back is a radar unit and hence
it scans the sea and air for enemy vessels.

At the time when the Soviet Union fell
apart there was a second LUN under construction, it was about ninety percent
finished when the military funding ceased.

This was because of
the Soviet Unions poor financial situation and also the end of the cold war.
Later the eventual collapse of communism was enough to create further
financial upheavals in much of their ragged economy.

The versatile Ekranoplan can achieve a
good clearance above the waves. It can fly the same height over
ground too, as long as its not too hilly.

Most countries have now built prototypes of
the Ekranoplan design as it has very useful application both in the military
and commercial fields. As yet no commercial flights have been instigated but
there are reports that a lot of private ventures are being developed, mostly
in the U.S.A.

The Ekranoplan is hundreds of time safer
than conventional aircraft because it cannot exactly crash if it has
engine failure. Also any terrorist bombs in a commercial Ekranoplan
would only blow a big hole in its side and kill a few passengers.

The
whole craft itself would not disintegrate as the Ekranoplan is not
pressurized. Below is a possible concept that we may see in the
future...

Photo by Ken Duffy

Overall the Ekranoplan would be a
fantastic way to travel, it would not be as fast as an airplane but the
safety factor could override that issue.

WIG IN THE U.S.A

Boeing in Seattle U.S.A have shown an interest
in the WIG concept and have discussed producing an experimental prototype. To build a huge WIG craft with
military needs in mind for a long range heavy transport craft must be quite
appealing to those employed in national security.

Named
The Pelican, the five hundred feet wing span craft it is
proposed would carry 2,800,000 lbs of freight. The ride height would be
established at around twenty feet off the ground but a ceiling altitude of
20,000 feet is being considered, as in
conventional aircraft.

The Pelican it is envisaged would operate
from a runway with seventy six retractable wheels, although the dual concept of a water
landing craft is on the agenda.

The wings on the Pelican are tilted
downwards for the best WIG efficiency. The craft would be powered by four huge
powerful turboprop engines. With an envisaged double cargo deck, one to carry
at least fifteen main battle tanks and the upper to accommodate a thousand
troops. With a maximum takeoff weight up to 3,000 tons, the Pelican would have a wing area of more
than an acre.

Image below, The Pelican shown to scale
with a Boeing 747 Jumbo jet.

The Pelican is an interesting proposition, to be as big
as the Caspian Sea Monster if not bigger. The idea to move large
heavy loads by WIG craft with a relatively small wingspan is appealing to
military minds.

Boeing claims that a craft like the Pelican could be
capable of a 10,000 mile range fully loaded with over 700 tons of tanks,
troops and military equipment.

The latest news is that the Chinese are
investing capital in the development of a prototype in-land waterways craft
known as the Hubei Type One.

Chinese Hubei TY-1

Ekranoplan's may indeed be the ocean liners of
the future as they are very safe and very fast. I for one will be watching out
for any new developments with this fantastic idea from Russia.

This is a must
see...just click on this link
Dilapidated Ekranoplan to see over eighty very interesting and rare photos
of a now very dilapidated, abandoned and rotting Ekranoplan. Such
is modern throw-away technology.

Its a great pity that this technology isn't looked
into further, as an Ekranoplan would indeed be a fabulous, fast, fun and very
safe way for commercial travel. Submarines could also present a
viably commercial way to travel, but as it is, only military application is
associated with these marvellous methods of travel!